I Just Wrote A Scene That Is Going To Haunt Me

Howdy all. I'm back. Sorry for the long silence...it's been one of "those" months. Mike - I saw that you tagged me. I wasn't ignoring ya. I'll do the tag in my next post. Promise.

So after a very unproductive last 4 weeks, I sat down tonight to write a scene I have been dreading. Not because I didn't think I could write it, but because it's something that, in striving for authenticity, I knew I was going to be writing something that would turn my stomach.

My current WIP involves the spirit of an adolescent African American boy who died in the rural south not long after the civil rights movement. What bothered me about it is the boy's death. It's bad. he dies at the hands of a group of white supremacists in a time and place where there just isn't much law. Now, the nature of his death is supposed to be violent, that's part of the story and a primary motivator for revenge, but damn it all...I didn't want to write it.

Not the least concern was the language. We all know the kind of filth those folks spew, and I have to say I found the prospect of writing any of it down to be one of the most distasteful things I've done as an aspiring writer. But I guess that's kid of the point, isn't it? If I, the writer, can make myself cringe, then the reader should get just as angry, right?

Well, that's what I was going for. I dunno if I pulled it off. But I do know I am going to have some ugly dreams tonight. That's probably my cosmic payback for thinking up this darn scene in the first place. This poor kid's death is just so damn wrong. LAPD with less restraint.

ugh.

As an aside - Thank you Tyhitia, for the "sorta" pep-talk about this scene. I took your advice.


Now I need to go wash my hands.

See Y'all!